Worksheets and Files

Session 1

Review the terms “goods” (things that people make or use to satisfy needs and wants) and “services” (activities that satisfy people’s needs and wants). Write out the definitions on chart paper. Create a T-chart labeled “Goods” and “Services.” Ask the students for examples of each and list them on the chart.

Introduce the students to the selected text on resources. As a group, preview the text and illustrations to generate predictions about what is occurring in the text. Ask the students to listen carefully for information about any resources that could be used to produce goods and services. Read the text aloud to the class. Attend to unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts.

Ask the students to name some goods and services from the text. Record the students’ answers on the T-chart.

Ask the students to identify materials, machines, tools, buildings, people, etc. that were used to produce these different goods and services. Pick one item such as bread or milk. Ask the students to list what resources are used to make the item. List these on a separate T-chart labeled “Item” and “Resources.”

Describe the 50 State Quarters® Program for background information, if necessary, using the example of your own state, if available. Then display the transparency or photocopy of the “Nevada Quarter Reverse” page Locate Nevada on a classroom map. Note its position in relation to your school’s location.

With the students, examine the design. Have the students identify the images and writing, including the words “The Silver State,” the mountains, the sun, the sagebrush, and the horses. Write these on a piece of chart paper with the heading “Nevada.”

Lead a class discussion regarding the images and explain the following to the students.

Nevada has the largest wild horse population of any state. These horses run free on public lands.

A portion of the Sierra Nevada mountain range is located in Nevada.

Nevada became a state in 1864.

Nevada’s nickname is “The Silver State” because much of the silver found in the United States is found in Nevada. Explain that Nevada also produces gold, oil, and salt.

A large area called “The Great Basin” covers much of Nevada. Sagebrush, which is shown on the coin, is the state flower of Nevada and grows in the desert of the Great Basin.

Explain to the students that the images on the coin are all resources. Explain to the students that resources are used to produce goods and services. Using the “Nevada” list, ask the students what goods and services they could use these different things for. List these goods and services on the “Goods and Services” T-chart.

Have students think of additional resources and add them to a second list labeled “Other Resources.”

Have the students draw three large circles on a sheet of paper and group the resources from the “Nevada” and “Other Resources” charts within the circles according to similarities.

Discuss with students the three groups they came up with and the criteria they used for the groupings.

Sessions 2 and 3

Review the charts and resource lists from the previous session. Review the definition of “resources.” Discuss the similarities the students found among the resources. Discuss the three types of resources (human, capital, and natural). Make a class chart with three large circles and label them “Human Resources,” “Natural Resources,” and “Capital Resources.” Divide the resources from the lists into the appropriate circles.

Display the transparency or photocopy of the “Nevada Quarter Reverse” page. Review the resources shown on the coin. Ask the students if they can find something that the resources have in common. Guide the students to the conclusion that all of these resources are found in nature and are called “natural resources.”

Look at the “Nevada” and “Other Resources” lists. Ask the students if all of the things listed would come under the heading of natural resources. Explain to the students that there are two other types of resources besides natural resources.

Explain that buildings, people who work in the tourist trade, machines and tools used to produce goods and services, and so on are all resources. Ask the students for examples of tourism, buildings, and machines from their own state.

Introduce the students to a text about Nevada. Ask the students to listen carefully for information about any resources that could be used to produce goods and services.

Read the text aloud to the class. Attend to unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts. During the reading, add resources covered in the book to the “Nevada” list.

Identify the two other types of resources needed to produce goods or services: human (people working to produce goods and services) and capital (goods made by people and used to produce other goods and services, such as machines, tools, and buildings).

Distribute a “Resource Coins” page to each student. Explain to the students that they are to draw and label one resource from the “Nevada” resource list on each of the coins on the page. They are then to cut the coins out from the paper. Model this for the students by drawing on the overhead transparency a resource taken from one of the coin images on the “Resource Coins” worksheet. Discuss whether the example resource is a natural, human, or capital resource.

Allow time for the students to complete the activity.

Distribute construction paper to the students. Have the students head the paper “Resources.” Have the students divide the paper into three columns and label them “Natural,” “Human,” and “Capital.”

Have the students glue their coins to the paper in the appropriate columns.

Have the students discuss their papers with a partner.

Collect the students’ papers when finished and display them in the classroom.

Differentiated Learning Options

Have coins available that show resources.

Have students work in pairs to complete the activity.

Enrichments/Extensions

Have students find resources from their own state.

Have students design a brochure or multimedia presentation on the three different types of resources.

Evaluate the students’ class participation and worksheets for achievement of the lesson’s objectives.